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great devotion to the Jesuits, Nicole replied to him in another series of letters, Les Visionnaires (1666). In the course of these he observed that poets and dramatists were no better than " public poisoners." This remark stung Racine to the See also:

QUICK

quick; he turned not only on his old master, but on all Port Royal, in a scathing reply, which—as Boileau told him—did more honour to his See also:

head than to his See also:

heart. About the same time Nicole became involved in a controversy about See also:

TRANSUBSTANTIATION

transubstantiation with the Huguenot See also:

CLAUDE, JEAN (1619-1687)

Claude; out of this See also:

GREW, NEHEMIAH (1641-1712)

grew a massive See also:

WORK

work, La Perpetuite de la foi de l'eglise catholique touchant l'eucharistie (1669), the See also:

JOINT (through Fr. from Lat. junctum, jungere, to join)

joint effort of Nicole and Antoine Arnauld. But Nicole's most popular See also:

PRODUCTION (Lat. productionem, from producere, to pro-duce)

production was his Essais de morale, a series of short discussions on See also:

PRACTICAL

practical See also:

CHRISTIANITY

Christianity. The first See also:

VOLUME

volume was published in 1671, and was followed at irregular intervals by others; altogether the series See also:

numbers fourteen volumes.

In 1679, on the renewal of the persecution of the Jansenists, Nicole was forced to See also:

FLY (formed on the root of the supposed original Tent. fleugan, to fly)

fly to See also:

Belgium in See also:

COMPANY

company with Arnauld. But the two soon parted. Nicole was elderly and in poor See also:

HEALTH

health; the life of a fugitive was not to his See also:

TASTE (from Lat. taxare, to touch sharply; tangere, to touch)

taste, and he complained that he wanted See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest. " Rest," answered Arnauld, " when you haveeternity to rest in!" In 1683 Nicole made a rather ambiguous See also:

peace with the authorities, and was allowed to come back to Paris. There he continued his See also:

LITERARY

literary labours up to the last; he was See also:

writing a refutation of the new See also:

HERESY

heresy of the Quietists, when See also:

DEATH

death overtook him on the 16th of See also:

NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November 1695. Nicole was one of the most attractive figures of Port Royal. Many stories are told of his See also:

QUAINT (O. Fr. cointe, from Lat. cognitus, known, probably influenced by association with Lat. corn plus, neat)

quaint absent-mindedness and unreadiness in conversation. His books are distinguished by exactly opposite qualities; they are neat and orderly to excess. Hence they were exceedingly popular with Mme de See also:

SEVIGNE, MARIE DE

Sevigne and readers of her class. No other Jansenist writer, not even Pascal, was so successful in putting the position of Port Royal before the See also:

WORLD

world. And although a See also:

MODERN

modern appetite quails before fourteen volumes on morality, there is much solid sense and practical knowledge of human nature to be found in the Essais de morale. Several abridgments of the work exist, notably a Choix des essais de morale de Nicole, ed.

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NICOLL, ROBERT (1814-1837)